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From crime lab to mind palace: post-CSI forensics in Sherlock

2016; Routledge; Volume: 14; Issue: 3 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1080/17400309.2016.1187890

1740-7923

Sofia Bull,

Historical and Scientific Studies

This article examines the complex relationship between Sherlock (BBC, 2010–present) and the forensic crime drama genre category. Tracing the televisual genre linkages that Sherlock articulates to previous programmes such as CSI: Crime Scene Investigation (CBS, 2000–2015), Bones (Fox, 2005–present) and Numb3rs (CBS, 2005–2010), it specifically studies the show’s need to distinguish itself within a television landscape oversaturated with forensic scientists. Discussing Sherlock’s construction of the deductive method of investigation and genre subversive portrayal of the figure of the modern forensic expert, as well as its figuration of the consulting detective as an establishment watchdog, I conclude that this is a ‘post-CSI’ crime drama that stages a nostalgic resurrection of a pre-forensics cerebral gentleman detective.